24 moments

1. Birth in Nam Trực

   1911-10-14 · Nam Trực District, Nam Định Province, Vietnam

   Lê Đức Thọ, born Phan Đình Khải, was born in Nam Trực in Nam Định province. Coordinates represent Nam Trực District; the cited source gives Nam Trực rather than a specific village.

2. Sent to Côn Đảo prison

   1930-11-01 · Côn Đảo Prison, Côn Sơn Island, Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, Vietnam

   

   After arrest by French colonial authorities, Thọ was sentenced to hard labor and deported to the Côn Đảo prison complex. The source gives November 1930 but not a day.

3. Imprisonment in Son La

   1941-01-01 · Sơn La Prison, Sơn La, Vietnam

   

   During his second period of colonial imprisonment, Thọ was held in the Sơn La prison system and participated in its prisoner party organization. The quoted biographical text places Phan Đình Khải at Sơn La in the context of the 1941 prison expansion.

4. Transferred to Hòa Bình Prison

   1943-07-01 · Hòa Bình Prison, Hòa Bình, Vietnam

   Thọ was at Hòa Bình Prison by July 1943, where he served as secretary of the prison party cell according to a fellow prisoner’s account. The testimony establishes Thọ’s presence at Hòa Bình Prison by July 1943.

5. Cochinchina Party work

   1948-01-01 · Cochinchina, South Vietnam

   

   Thọ was in South Vietnam as deputy secretary and head of the Organization Department of the Cochinchina Party Committee. The source supports only the broad region; coordinates are a representative point in the former Cochinchina region.

6. Return to Hanoi

   1955-01-01 · Hanoi, Vietnam

   

   After the French withdrawal and partition of Vietnam, Thọ returned to Hanoi and entered the Politburo and other senior posts. The source gives the year but no more precise date.

7. Return flight to Hanoi

   1968-01-01 · Hanoi, Vietnam

   After the September talks, Thọ flew back to Hanoi to seek a change in negotiating instructions. The return is described after the September 1968 meetings, but the source does not provide a precise date.

8. Arrival for Paris peace talks

   1968-06-01 · Paris, France

   Thọ arrived in Paris to assume effective control of the North Vietnamese peace effort. The source supports June 1968 but not a day; coordinates represent central Paris.

9. Meeting Kosygin en route to Paris

   1968-06-01 · Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union

   Traveling to take charge of North Vietnam’s Paris peace effort, Thọ stopped in Moscow to meet Soviet premier Aleksei Kosygin. The source supports June 1968 but not a day.

10. Harriman meeting at Vitry-sur-Seine

    1968-09-08 · Vitry-sur-Seine, France

    Thọ first met U.S. delegation head W. Averell Harriman in a villa at Vitry-sur-Seine during the Paris peace process. Coordinates represent Vitry-sur-Seine; the specific villa is not identified.

11. First secret Kissinger meeting

    1970-02-21 · Paris, France

    Thọ began the secret Kissinger channel in Paris, the negotiations that would continue for three years. The exact house is not identified in the cited text.

12. Thirteenth Kissinger meeting

    1972-05-02 · Paris, France

    Thọ met Kissinger in Paris amid the North Vietnamese Easter Offensive and renewed U.S. bombing. Coordinates represent central Paris.

13. July negotiating session with Kissinger

    1972-07-19 · Paris, France

    Thọ participated in a further secret negotiating session with Kissinger in Paris. The U.S. State Department’s contemporaneous memorandum identifies both the date/place and Thọ as a participant.

14. November renegotiation meeting

    1972-11-20 · Paris, France

    Thọ met Kissinger in Paris after the United States sought changes to the October peace text to accommodate Nguyễn Văn Thiệu. The cited account says the meeting was at a house owned by the French Communist Party but does not identify its address.

15. Gif-sur-Yvette negotiation

    1973-01-08 · Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    Thọ met Kissinger at a house in Gif-sur-Yvette during the final negotiations after the Christmas bombing campaign. Coordinates represent Gif-sur-Yvette; the cited account does not give the house address.

16. Initialing the Vietnam peace agreement

    1973-01-23 · International Conference Center, Paris, France

    

    Thọ and Kissinger initialed the Vietnam peace agreement in Paris, immediately before the formal Paris Peace Accords were signed by the parties on 27 January. Coordinates are a representative central-Paris point because the cited caption does not supply a street address.

17. Post-accord meeting at Gif-sur-Yvette

    1973-05-18 · 108 Avenue du Général Leclerc, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    

    Thọ returned to the Paris area for implementation talks with Kissinger after the ceasefire proved fragile. The memorandum’s participant list identifies Lê Đức Thọ as the North Vietnamese representative.

18. June communiqué session

    1973-06-13 · 108 Avenue du Général Leclerc, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

    

    Thọ attended the final June session at Gif-sur-Yvette, where the United States and North Vietnam concluded a joint communiqué on implementing the Paris Accords. The State Department memorandum identifies Thọ as a participant and gives the venue in its source note.

19. Entry into Saigon

    1975-04-30 · Saigon, South Vietnam

    

    Following the North Vietnamese capture of Saigon, Thọ entered the city and directed immediate administrative measures. Saigon was soon renamed Ho Chi Minh City.

20. Victory parade in Saigon

    1975-05-01 · Saigon, South Vietnam

    

    Thọ watched the May Day and victory parade in Saigon after the city’s capture. Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City shortly afterward.

21. FUNSK ceremony in Kratie

    1978-12-02 · Kratie, Cambodia

    Thọ presided over a ceremony in Kratie province during the formation of the Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation. Coordinates represent Kratie city; the cited source identifies only Kratie province.

22. Military Region 9 meeting at Chi Lăng

    1979-01-05 · Chi Lăng Training Center area, Châu Đốc Province, South Vietnam

    On the eve of the Vietnamese-backed offensive that took Phnom Penh, Thọ arrived at Chi Lăng for a meeting at the Military Region 9 headquarters. Coordinates are an approximate representative point for the Chi Lăng Training Center area near the Cambodian border; the source names Chi Lăng but gives no exact headquarters coordinates.

23. Interview in Hanoi

    1984-01-01 · Hanoi, Vietnam

    

    During a fall 1984 interview in Hanoi, Thọ discussed his arrival in Phnom Penh and Vietnam’s intervention in Cambodia. The source supports fall 1984 but not a more precise date.

24. Death in Hanoi

    1990-10-13 · Hanoi, Vietnam

    Thọ died in Hanoi, one day before his seventy-ninth birthday.